It is well known in the prior art to provide canes, crutches, and other walking aids with a tip made from natural rubber, polyurethane, or similar material. This tip engages with the walking surface, and ideally helps absorbs impact and provides greater gripping than that which would be provided if the walking device directly engaged with the walking surface.
Typical prior art tips incorporate a tread design on the tip's bottom surface to assist in both of these functions. One well-known tread design utilizes concentric ridges protruding from the bottom surface of the tip. Alternative prior art designs include parallel linear ridges, spikes for gripping icy surfaces, and protrusions shaped like pie pieces. Unfortunately, none of the tread designs found in prior art tips provides adequate gripping power on wet or otherwise slippery surfaces.
Similarly, in the field of robotics it is often necessary to increase the gripping power of a tip. For instance, robots that propel themselves by moving two or more legs need to minimize the slippage that occurs as each leg contacts the walking surface. Automated “arms” or “hands” or “fingers” that grasp, push or pull an object also need an ability to grip an object or surface. In these circumstances, it is vital to maximize the amount of friction obtained by the robotic device against surfaces. Unfortunately, prior art techniques of placing a rubber cap on the leg or finger often entails significant effort and expense, and fails to achieve satisfactory results.
What is needed is a way to maximize the gripping power of such tips while minimizing the cost and difficulty of tip construction.